Mischief Managed
by Clueless Bystander
Summary: When the Marauders are at risk for being exposed as illegal Animagi, what are they to do? Get the evidence and redecorate of course! Oneshot, Marauder era duh


Disclaimer: It's a FANFICTION site. You should know these aren't my characters.

_A/N: Alright, so I wrote this for a contest, if you care to see the site, I'll have a link up in my profile. Hope you enjoy!_

**Mischief Managed**

James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew knew what they had to do. It wasn't very often that the four of them all agreed whole-heartedly on an action plan. Remus was too proper, and Peter too scared to constantly keep up with James and Sirius, but this time it was a matter of life and death. Not completely, but hey, they were Seventh years at Hogwarts! What could go wrong?

As the quartet came up upon a seemingly deserted street corner, they crammed into a telephone booth, as Sirius picked up the receiver.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, London location, how may I help you?" A mechanical, but soothing voice asked.

"Messers Moony, Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail are here on official Marauder business." Trust Sirius to make jokes.

"Please take your name tags and have a nice stay at the Ministry of Magic, London location." And with that, there was a small _ping_ as four name tags dispensed from the coin return slot.

"Well, that was easy," Remus said, a little awe-struck. "Now what?" As if on cue, the four felt as if they were being mixed in a blender, only instead of a blade slicing through them, they were falling, to finally land in a pile under a sign reading "Place Wands Here" with an arrow indicating the slot right about Peter's head.

"Good thing this place is deserted." James muttered indignantly as he untangled himself from the mass and put his wand in the slot.

"You're _sure_ that no one is here?" Remus asked cautiously, "I mean, you sure it wasn't just your dad's department?"

"Relax, Moony, no one is here. If my dad's department got Christmas off, then the rest of the Ministry does. Now, you three put your wands in the slot, and let's get this over with!" James replied, getting slightly annoyed at the indication that he hadn't thought this out.

"How will we get the papers if we don't have our wands!" Peter squeaked.

"Look, the slot knows that there are four of us, it's waiting for four wands. As soon as you guys put them in, it will check them over for dark magic, and then give them back." James sighed. It wasn't his fault he was a Ministry brat!

When they got their wands back, James looked up at the directory; he was searching for one name in particular. Scanning the list, he got a triumphant smirk as he found the name he had been searching for: Regulus Black, Animal Extortions and Animagus Matters, Fourth Floor, Corner Office with a Window.

"Wow, they just tell us everything, don't they?" Sirius gasped in mock-awe.

As the four climbed into the elevator, they discussed their game plan, and reminded each other what was at risk.

"Alright. Sirius, if we don't get those papers from your brother, do you know what happens?" James said sarcastically. They wouldn't be able to get out of the elevator with Remus if they didn't go through this _one more time_ as Remus kept urging them.

"Well," Sirius began listing off everything that Remus had made sure they knew, "we get expelled, time in Azkaban, and on top of that, Jamesy boy here will lose his chance of shagging Lily senseless—no on likes to shag in Azkaban…"

"Good. We're on the same page! So, here we go. See you on the other side!"

"What other side? We're all here…" Peter asked; he was easily confused.

"Don't worry about it, Pete," Remus said reassuringly, "just an expression, let's go."

Coming up to the corner office with a window, the four had to laugh at the sign hanging above the door. "The Ultimate Stud with a Corner Office, Regulus Black"

"Well, at least he has a sense of humor." Sirius reasoned softly, only a little hurt that his brother had already taken his future title. "Wait… I can fix this!" With a quick wave of his wand, the sign now said "Desperate for a Good Time? Call Regulus Black! The bloke in the Corner Office with a Window." Not his best work, but the chances of his brother noticing any time soon were slim.

Inside the office, James and Remus were sorting through random Ministry papers, trying to find the ones concerning them. Finally, in an act of exasperation, James yelled "_Accio _My papers!" and to his surprise, he got them. However, he had managed to over-turn two filing cabinets, and there were two papers left. Shrugging his shoulders at Remus, he summoned the other two papers. Now the office was in complete disarray as two more filing cabinets had over-turned, one of which spilling its contents to the floor, adding to the frenzy of papers that had already adorned the floor.

Stepping into the office, Sirius stopped to admire the work. "I always told him that his office needed redecorating… Who better to do the job, eh mates?"

XxXxXxXxX

The following morning, when Regulus was walking to his corner office, he was feeling great. He was going to finally get back at his brother for all the pranks. Today was the day Regulus Black was going to present his proof that his brother, and two of his little friends were illegal animagi, and he was going to enjoy it. He had pictures, he had conversations, everything he could need to get them immediately thrown into Azkaban. The only thing that would have made life sweeter was if their little were-wolf friend was going too…

As he opened the door to his office, the tune he was whistling got caught on his lips as he let out a mangled shriek. His corner office with a window was in ruins, and poorly decorated! Since when do red and gold go together! As he bent down to collect his papers, he sunk to his knees as realization hit him.

"They've got my evidence." He said hollowly. "THEY'VE GOT MY EVIDENCE!" Needless to say, he was mad. As he turned to go out the door, he saw the scrolling lettering that told him all he needed to know. "_Messers Moony, Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail would like to thank you, Regulus, for allowing us to fix your office—Since when do green and silver go together anyway?"_ And as if that wasn't enough, his precious door sign fell on him as he walked out. _Could this day be _any_ worse?_ He thought to himself.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Two days after their expedition, the four boys sat by the fire, (which happened to be fueled with Regulus's precious evidence,) as they laughed at the front page of the _Daily Prophet_: **_Mayhem in the Ministry_** followed by a picture of Regulus looking scandalized holding his altered sign in hand.

"Well, boys," James said, toasting, "mischief managed."

"Mischief managed." The other three replied, as they went back to their scheming.


End file.
